Nueva York (CNN Business) — Netflix recently told its employees that a new, lower-priced subscription tier, with ads, might arrive later this year, according to a report published by Netflix. The New York Times this Tuesday.
The company has faced difficulties as competition in streaming services grows: shares plunged last month following Netflix reported its first quarter loss of subscribers in more than a decade.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in April that the company was open to adding ads to the service, shocking the media and industry. Hastings refused for years to put ads on the platform.
“Those who have followed Netflix know that I’ve been once morest the complexity of and I’m a big fan of the simplicity of subscription. But as much as I’m a fan of that, I’m more of a fan of consumer choice.” Hastings said on last month’s post-earnings call. “And allowing consumers who like a lower price, and are tolerant of , to get what they want makes a lot of sense.”
Hastings added in April that Netflix was trying to figure out how to bring the ads to the platform “over the next year or two.” But that process appears to be accelerating. Netflix, which declined to comment for this report, is trying to find a way to bring in more money, stem the losses on Wall Street and reverse the narrative regarding its actions.
However, the news spooked investors, causing Netflix shares to drop 1% following the report.
The shares had risen before the publication of the article of The New York Times.
Another area of revenue generation that Netflix has been exploring is the possibility of cracking down on password sharing among its subscribers. The note to employees also says that Netflix will start working on the password issue at the same time it wants to debut the ad-supported subscription option.
In March, the company said it has been working for a year on ways to “allow members who share their password outside of their home to do so easily and securely, while also paying a little more.”
Netflix reported in April that it has 221 million subscribers, making it the leader in the streaming market, but that it lost 200,000 users in the first quarter of 2022. As if that were not enough, it said it expects to lose another two million in the second. trimester.
The loss of subscribers and poor forecasts have raised questions from investors regarding the future growth of Netflix and even the entire streaming business.
